Periodontal conditions in insulin-dependent diabetics

The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence and severity of periodontal disease in age- and sex-matched adult long- and short-duration insulin-dependent diabetics and non-diabetics. The study involved 82 subjects with long- and 72 with short-duration diabetes and 77 non-diabetics, all aged 20-70 years. The clinical and radiographic examination comprised recordings of the number of existing teeth, absence or presence of plaque and supra- and subgingival calculus, gingival conditions, probing pocket depth and alveolar bone level. There were no significant differences in the number of existing teeth or presence of plaque and supra- and subgingival calculus between long- and short-duration diabetics and non-diabetics. Diabetics, irrespective of the duration of the disease, had a higher prevalence of sites with gingivitis than non-diabetics. Overall, there were no significant differences between the groups regarding the prevalence of tooth surfaces with probing pocket depths of 4 and 5 mm. However, on comparison between age subgroups, long-duration diabetics younger than 45 years had significantly more 4 and 5 mm pockets than non-diabetics. Long-duration diabetics altogether had significantly more tooth surfaces with probing depth greater than or equal to 6 mm than non-diabetics. The radiographs of alveolar bone height exhibited significantly more extensive alveolar bone loss in long-duration diabetics aged 40-49 years than in short-duration diabetics and non-diabetics. This, together with the increased number of subjects belonging to classification groups with severe periodontal disease experience among long-duration diabetics, indicates more periodontal disease in these diabetics.